World Series 2024 Predictions: Full Schedule and Bracket Picks for Fall Classic

The New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers—the top seeds from the AL and NL, respectively—both find themselves just two wins away from securing their spots at the Fall Classic. It's too early to celebrate, though, since the Cleveland Guardians and New York Mets could both be a hot streak away from turning things around.

All of this will play out in short order, but let's be honest: Who wants to wait around to find out what's going to happen? Why not just peer into the future with some sure-to-come-true predictions for not only this round, but the championship as well? That's how we're leaning at least, so after laying out the World Series schedule, we'll make predictions for this round and the next.

While the Yankees haven't exactly trounced the Guardians to this point, New York has seemed in control throughout this series. In each of the first two games, the Yankees scored at least three runs before any Guardians crossed the plate.

It feels entirely possible things will keep trending this direction. New York's stars are rising to the occasion—Aaron Judge, Juan Soto and Giancarlo Stanton have all homered in this series—and Cleveland just doesn't have the star power to measure up.

The Mets, who snagged the NL's sixth seed a day after the season was supposed to end, have given out team-of-destiny vibes throughout this postseason. Their luck may ultimately run out against the mighty Dodgers, though.

While New York clawed its way to a 7-3 win in Game 2, Games 1 and 3 went in L.A.'s favor by a combined 17-0 margin. The Dodgers now have four shutout wins to show for their last five contests. With this offense heating up and this pitching staff on fire, L.A. might have more than New York can handle.

These are two of the biggest spenders in baseball, and they have the super-loaded rosters to show for it. Throw in a historic rivalry and quietly ticking championship clocks—the Yankees last won a title in 2009, while the Dodgers have won it once since 1988 (2020)—and this is a series that would easily sell itself to the masses.

The baseball would be terrific, too. The Dodgers and Yankees not only paced their respective leagues in wins, they also finished first and second, respectively, in run differential with a combined scoring margin of plus-303.

You could flip a coin if these two teams were at full-strength, but with Freddie Freeman battling an ankle injury and L.A.'s rotation ravaged by injuries, it's hard to go against New York here. The Yankees' big bats are bopping, their starting pitchers are doing their part and their bullpen has been lights-out in the postseason.